ARS | Publication request: Mobility of P elements in drosophilids and nondrosophilids

Submitted to: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: May 12, 1988
Publication Date: December 2, 1988
Citation: Handler, A.M., O'Brochta, D. . 1988. Mobility of P elements in drosophilids and nondrosophilids. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 85:6052-6056.

Interpretive Summary: The mobility properties of the Drosophila melanogaster P element in drosophilid and nondrosophilid species has been determined by scientists at the USDA Agricultural Research Service, Center for Medical Agricultural and Veterinary Entomology, Gainesville, Florida, using a P-element mobility assay that is conducted transiently in insect embryos. P elements are mobilizable in all drosophilids tested, including species outside the genus Drosophila but not in the related Tephritidae (order: Diptera), although the P-element gene necessary for mobility, transposase, is transcribed. These results show that without modifications P elements will not serve as general insect gene vectors and suggest that nonconserved host-encoded factors participate in the transposition of P elements. Our methods will be generally useful for analyzing the cis- and trans-acting factors required for P-element mobility in vivo and could be used to analyze the mobility properties of other transposable elements in insects.

Technical Abstract: The mobility properties of the Drosophila melanogaster P element in drosophilid and nondrosophilid species has been determined using a P-element mobility assay that is conducted transiently in insect embryos. P elements are mobilizable in all drosophilids tested, including species outside the genus Drosophila but not in the related Tephritidae (order: Diptera), although the P-element gene necessary for mobility, transposase, is transcribed. These results show that without modifications P elements will not serve as general insect gene vectors and suggest that nonconserved host-encoded factors participate in the transposition of P elements. Our methods will be generally useful for analyzing the cis- and trans-acting factors required for P-element mobility in vivo and could be used to analyze the mobility properties of other transposable elements in insects.